What exactly does "uptime" mean in reference to your website? Uptime means the number of hours your website is operational and available to users. Uptime is generally measured as a percentage and calculated in monthly or yearly increments. The...
The problem with overlays is that they are still a problem! In February of 2021, I posted about the havoc that overlays cause to assistive technology and its users. According to a recent article in the New York Times (July 13, 2022), not...
Web forms should be easy to navigate, complete, and submit while being keyboard accessible from the first input field to the submit button. Instructions, input format requirements, and error messages should be written in plain language and...
The University of West Florida utilizes a CMS to manage their website content which allows non-technical users to manage their own web content. While this is a great practice that allows UWF to output timely content, manually reviewing all content...
We all want that web page we’ve been searching for to be viewable, usable, and interactive with lightning speed. But alas, that is not always the case. We have all had to "Let the Spinning Wheel spin," much to our displeasure and...
What do we mean when we talk about best practices? Merriam-Webster defines best practices as "a procedure that has been shown by research and experience to produce optimal results and that is established or proposed as a standard...
According to the Center for Plain Language, "Readability is about making your digital content clear and easy to understand. When you focus on readability, you increase the chance your target audience will actually read and interact with your...
Some of you may have noticed a new report available to you in DubBot. That’s right, the Web Governance Report. We are really excited about this one! The Web Governance report will combine Custom Checks (soon to be called "Policies") and...
According to Psychology Today, "a heuristic is a mental shortcut that allows an individual to make a decision, pass judgment, or solve a problem quickly and with minimal mental effort." Heuristics are also referred to as "a rule of thumb," which...
What is the Accessibility Tree? Simply put, the Accessibility Tree is what all operating systems use to power assistive technology. It is a modified Document Object Model (DOM). A browser takes the DOM and modifies it into a form that is useful...
The designers, programmers, and engineers at DubBot have been burning the midnight oil over the past several months and have released quite a few important updates. Let me tell you about the three most exciting (and requested) updates to be...
Ensuring that your organization utilizes appropriate alt text for images within your website is pretty much considered Accessibility 101. For those readers who are not familiar, alt text or alternative text is the text version of an image read to...
Why are web content writers, designers and managers still using "Click Here" (or "Read More," "Learn More," etc.) as link text when it has been shown repeatedly it's just not best practice? Maybe it’s time for a refresher course on...
Using automated scanning software, such as DubBot, and manual testing are two excellent ways to identify potential accessibility issues in your digital assets. There is one more tool you can add to the mix and that is analytics. Finding an...
What are the components of a robust procurement process for technology that ensures accessibility needs are identified and addressed in the planning, requirements gathering, research and evaluation phases as well as the determination of...
DubBot automatically checks for website accessibility, SEO, and generally accepted website best practices. Although these checks are all beneficial as out-of-the-box functionality, one of the more powerful and flexible features in DubBot is the...
What Is an Overlay? According to Dictionary.com, an overlay is: noun something laid over something else; covering. a layer or decoration of something applied: an overlay of gold. Accessibility overlays are very similar ... they are laid...
'Persona' Defined A persona is defined as "a single representation of a cluster of target users who represent similar behaviors, goals and motivations." ~ © Nielsen Norman Group More simply put, personas are models, usually...
Today’s websites and web apps can be very complex. Many consists of 1000s of code lines, multiple user interactions, custom color palettes, and video and audio content. Automated quality assurance tools, such as DubBot, are critical in...
What’s the difference between 404 and 301? Simply put, an HTTP 404 status code indicates that your browser cannot find the page requested, “File Not Found.” When a user requests a nonexistent webpage, you should...
While priorities, resources, and timelines have shifted significantly over the past month, there is still a need to continue to iterate and improve website accessibility, user experience, and overall content availability. More now than ever,...
As most of us enter a workweek that does not look like ones we have previously encountered, most DubBot users I have been in contact with are currently grappling with balancing three priorities simultaneously. While they continue with previously...
With the amount of work that we all do in a day, it is no wonder that spell check and auto-correct are technology built into most tools that we use to communicate with each other. But often, spell checking is not enough. I know that when I am...
One of the most difficult processes that people responsible for a website take on is a website redesign. It is a necessary evil often spurred by a combination of some of the following factors: issues with the current design and...
Happy New Year from your friends at DubBot! Dubby (the DubBot) is doing its best to stay warm during these winter months. We have good news! We’re launching Trends in DubBot. Trends will be accessed off of the user dashboard. DubBot...
Some of the first questions that we ask someone thinking about using DubBot are: How many pages does your website have? How many digital assets like PDFs and Word docs does it have? You may or may not be surprised to hear that most people...
Everyone loves a good autocorrect error. I mean, when is it not funny when cologne is changed to colon, or invite is changed to inflate, or "humidifier" is changed to "homicide". As amusing as it is, though, to make fun of some of the unintended...
Your website is the first interaction many potential customers, partners, and vendors will have with your brand. Your website is your chance to make a phenomenal first impression, to show visitors your brand’s personality, your...
In the "content is king" era of the web, many moving parts keep a website fresh and up to date. There’s the content machine: Marketing and communications professionals who write content and manage other contributors. There's the content...
